Anything For Love

by Janelle Taylor

  Soon, Quentin’s fingers sought the peak hidden in the core of her feminine domain. She parted her thighs as if in invitation for his explorers to invade that area, and he massaged the hot bud until it burst into bloom like a summer flower. He worked her into a frenzy of yearning that matched his.

  Rachel hardly noticed the booming thunder and flashes of lightning beyond the cozy room. Her heart pounded from excitement and exertion. Her mind was dazed by feverish ardor. “You’re driving me wild, Quentin; I need you inside me.”

  He was thrilled by her intense need of him as he moved atop her and into a glorious paradise that stole his breath for a moment.

  Rachel adored everything he did to her, for her, each caress, each kiss, each fulfillment of an unspoken promise to delight her. Her hands roamed his shoulders and she matched the pattern of his rhythmic thrusts. She savored the contradictory tension and relaxation that assailed her. It was like a rollercoaster ride. Her nipples reacted blissfully to his fingers and lips. The core of her being tingled and pulsed, and she coaxed him to continue his actions.

  Quentin restrained himself until he could hardly wait any longer to possess her to the fullest. When she stiffened, inhaled sharply, arched upward, and moaned “Oh, oh, oh,” he knew control was unnecessary and cast it aside. Within a few minutes, his erection was spilling forth with speed and joy into her receptive body. “Lordy, I love you,” he said in a ragged voice as he breathed heavily and thrust wildly until he was totally spent.

  They nestled in the bed, darkness surrounding them except for occasional lightning and the soft glow from nightlights in the hall and bathroom. They kissed and caressed and sighed dreamily as they relaxed and relished their contentment and satisfaction.

  “That’s some storm out there,” Quentin murmured. “Almost as powerful as the one in here a while ago. I can’t imagine our sex life ever being dull.”

  “It will be nonexistent soon; you’re leaving Wednesday.”

  Quentin hugged her and took a deep breath of resignation. “Don’t remind me. Lordy, I’m going to miss you.”

  “Maybe Bill Effingham will need you to hang around a little longer.”

  “Even if that was true, I couldn’t. I have to face the music Thursday.”

  “Your physical?” She knew he was dreading that first step to learning the truth about his impending fate.

  “That’s right. If I don’t pass it, I won’t be going to practice.”

  “You will, because you’re in excellent condition. Your stamina and strength are superb, Mr. Rawls; I can vouch for them.”

  He chuckled. “Too bad the team doctor and coach wouldn’t value your opinion.”

  “I know how badly you want this last season.”

  “It just seems as if I don’t play and do well, it’s unfinished business.”

  Like I was unfinished business after I seemingly dumped you? Now, Rachel, don’t go getting insecure because he’s leaving soon. “You will, Quentin, so don’t worry.” And come back for me.

  Twelve

  Rachel cancelled an historical society meeting for noon on Tuesday in order to spend every available minute with Quentin until his departure the next day.

  Quentin came over around ten after making a stop at a local sporting goods store to purchase a football to donate to one of Rachel’s projects: the celebrity auction for the library extension. While in the store, he agreed to sign several collector’s cards, two footballs for a promotional giveaway soon, and autographs for ecstatic customers. He only chatted for a short time because he was eager to get to Rachel’s.

  She thanked him for his kindness and generosity. He also gave her names and addresses of several entertainment stars who were friends who would send her something useful if she used his name when contacting them.

  As it stormed for most of the day, they talked and planned and ate lunch, each aware of how swiftly their separation was coming and how lonely they would be.

  While clearing the table, she said, “You’re a good person, Quentin Rawls, and I love you for being that way. I’m going to miss you terribly.”

  “Just promise you won’t believe any trash you read about me in those tabloids; you know they print lies and innuendos and half-truths. I won’t go flirting with any Cowboy cheerleaders, either. I won’t be fooling around no matter what they say or how any sneaky pictures might look. I’ll never cheat on you, Rachel, I swear.”

  “I know, Quentin, and I won’t cheat on you. I’ll—” The phone rang and sliced into her sentence. “Just a minute,” she told him, and put aside the dish cloth to lift the receiver.

  “Rachel, this is Janet. Are you ill today?”

  “No, why?”

  “You missed the society meeting, and that isn’t like you.”

  “Thanks for being concerned, but I had a schedule conflict.”

  “Since I missed you there, I wanted to call to tell you I’m worried about you and so are some of your other good friends.”

  You’re no “good” friend of mine or concerned about me and we both know it. “Really? I can’t imagine why.” Quentin’s car is in the garage and you were gone, so how do you know he’s here, and I bet you do?

  “I thought I should give you some obviously needed advice: you really shouldn’t be getting so serious so fast with this…football player. It really isn’t safe or ladylike to be carrying on with him. He could break your heart and ruin your reputation. I think you should—”

  “I’m sorry to rush you, Janet, but I’m busy. I have company and can’t talk right now. I’ll see you at the Heart Fund meeting on Thursday and we’ll chat there. ‘Bye.” Rachel hung up the receiver with Janet still talking. She frowned in annoyance.

  “What’s wrong, love? What did she say this time?”

  Rachel related the brief talk and frowned again.

  “That woman is a conniving and nosy bitch, but let’s not think about her when our time together is so short. If she comes over, we won’t answer the door.”

  Quentin grinned and nuzzled her neck. “I know what we need.”

  Rachel leaned against him and looped her arms around his neck. She looked up into his fiery blue gaze. “I know what I need: you.”

  “That’s an easy request to fill. Why don’t we lower the A/C to freezing, turn on the gas logs and throw a blanket on the floor in the bedroom, put on some romantic music, open that bottle of champagne, shuck these clothes, and pretend we’re in a secluded cabin in the mountains in the dead of winter?”

  “That sounds enticing, Mr. Rawls. How about a hot shower first so we’ll be squeaky clean for anything that comes up?” she ventured in a sexy tone as she caressed the sudden rise in his pants.

  Quentin needed to have Rachel completely before the time came for him to leave. He needed to be as close to her as possible, to lie beside her, to hold her, to be within her, to unite their hearts and bodies. He cupped her face and kissed her, and she clung to him as if she experienced those same deep yearnings. His senses spun at her nearness, and her ardent response. For today, nothing and no one existed except them and their needs. His tongue explored the tasty recess of her mouth, his teeth nibbling at her soft lips. He felt her tremble with longing, as did he.

  Rachel clasped his head between her hands and held it while she almost ravished his mouth. She tingled when his lips brushed her shoulder, bared to his quest after he removed her shirt. His mouth roved her neck and upper chest as his hands wandered along the same path. He unfastened her bra and kneaded her breasts. “Whew, you’re heating me up to boiling level. If we don’t stop now, we won’t get to that shower.”

  “Let’s go, woman; my appetite for you is increasing by the minute.”

  “You go first while I get things ready. If we share another bath, we’ll never make it to a blanket by the fire.”

  “Don’t be long,” he murmured in a husky tone, then went upstairs.

  While he showered, Rachel put the open bottle of champagne in an ice bucket, then carried it along wit
h two glasses to her bedroom. She turned the air-conditioning system on full blast to chill the area, spread a blanket on the floor before the fireplace, and turned on the gas logs. After she started the CD unit to playing romantic music, she lowered the shades and loosened the drapes to darken the room, and lit many candles to give it a seductive glow. To prevent an intrusion, she set the alarm system control panel near the bedroom door; a light on the outside switch on the front porch would make it appear she was gone if anyone dropped by to visit. The answering machine was readied and the office door closed so any message being taken would not be heard and distract them. The ringer on the phone nearby was turned off. Last, she stripped and went to bathe, just as he was finishing.

  “Everything’s prepared for your conquest, Mr. Rawls,” she jested as her gaze swept over his impressive physique and provocative nudity. “Except for me, and I will be soon. Pour the champagne and relax.”

  “Relax?” he teased with a chuckle. “How can I when I know what’s in store for me, for both of us, this afternoon?”

  “All afternoon, too. I hope your stamina is at its peak,” she told him as she took the damp towel from his grasp and finished drying his torso. She knelt to wipe trickling water from his long legs and feet, and, before rising, placed mischievous kisses on his hardening member. She tossed him the towel, instructing him to dry his hair before he got cold, and slipped into the frosted-glass shower, evading the hands which reached for her as she laughed merrily.

  “That isn’t fair, woman; I’m crying foul; that’s a stiff penalty.”

  “Just so it isn’t the only stiff thing around today,” she quipped as she adjusted the water’s temperature and flow.

  “It won’t be, not with you around and in this splendid mood. Lordy, woman, I stay half aroused most of the time. All you have to do is look at me and I come to attention.”

  “Excellent. The blow dryer is lying on the counter. I’ll be quick.”

  They ceased their playful banter as he dried his jet-black hair and combed it. As he did so, his gaze kept wandering to her strikingly sensual form, part of it unobscured through the clear designs etched onto the glass door and side panels. He could hardly wait to have them touching and loving.

  Quentin went to lie on the soft blanket and wait for her. The setting was cozy: the air chilly; the flames’ heat relaxing. He poured the champagne when he heard her spray on Passion perfume, her finishing touch. She closed the bathroom door to shut off light coming through the halfround window above the Jacuzzi, then she came to sit down beside him.

  Quentin smiled and passed her the bubbling pale-gold liquid. He tapped his glass to hers and said in an emotion-hoarsened voice, “To Rachel Gaines, the woman I love, the woman I’ve loved and wanted for twelve years, may you become Rachel Rawls by the end of January.”

  “To Quentin Rawls, the man I love,” she responded, “the man I’ve loved and wanted for twelve years, my best friend, my future husband.”

  Their tender gazes remained locked over the rims of their upturned glasses as they sipped from their glasses after the stirring toasts. Bubbles tickled their noses, fire and candle lights danced over their faces and naked bodies. Exotic aromas filled the air from the scented candles and dreamy strains of music floated around them. The only noises from outside were the deluge of rain and an occasional rumble of thunder; inside, only the humming of the air conditioner and their breathing as sweet tension claimed them. Until they finished their drinks, they watched each other without touching or speaking; they simply savored being together and arousing each other with sensual looks of increasing anticipation.

  He placed his empty glass on the hearth. “You’re utterly intoxicating.”

  She put hers aside. “It’s the champagne going to your head.”

  “No, it’s you, Rachel. I enjoy every minute I’m with you and miss you every minute I’m not.”

  “The same is true for me, Quentin.” Rachel’s entire being responded to every inch of him, to the way he enthralled her, the rippling of his muscles as he reached for her. He had won more than her physical submission; he owned her heart, soul, and body forever. Long, deep, purposeful kisses heightened her blazing desires.

  Quentin’s lips paused at the pulse point in her throat, which told him how aroused she was. He guided them to a prone position. He kissed the rise of her collarbone and drifted into the cleft between her breasts. Ever so lightly, his chin passed over their protruding peaks before his mouth encased them in turn, eliciting moans from her. He was amazed by the hardness of her nipples in contrast to the satiny softness of her mounds. He stroked familiar planes and curves as his fingers trekked over her supple flesh, stimulating, teasing, pleasuring, always traveling downward toward the apex of her thighs. Her dark curls were incredibly silky. His fingers parted the pleats of skin which were warm and damp to his touch. He massaged her with care and joy. “Lordy, you’re enchanting, woman. Every inch of you is perfect. I love you and want you. I can’t ever have enough of you.”

  His words and actions caused Rachel to squirm with anticipation and intense delight. As he titillated the hardened bud in her delicate folds, she kissed and stroked him as far as her lips and fingers could reach. Her nails gently raked over his back, shoulders, and firm buttocks. She was charged with eagerness and energy. She was burning with pervasive heat. She offered herself to him without modesty or inhibition, and in near feverish abandon.

  They stimulated each other in a variety of ways, as nothing seemed forbidden or reckless to them today. They took their time and gathered multiple delights as their hands and lips traveled each other’s terrain and explored every facet of sensuous foreplay and lovemaking.

  Finally, swollen and throbbing with urgent hunger, Quentin entered her with tormenting slowness. It was as if they were teetering on the precipice of triumph from the instant they fused their loins. He thrust and retreated time and again as he delved into her steamy recess. Without breaking their contact, he held her securely, rolled to his back, and sat up with her across his lap.

  Rachel’s legs surrounded his hips and she rocked back and forth upon his erection, tantalizing their most sensitive regions. “I love you, Quentin; I love you.” She rested her head against his as her breathing became swift and ragged. She moaned as his lips worked on her neck, shoulders, and breasts. Heat and tension mounted in her groin from enthralling friction. Lovemaking was never dull or routine with him. Her thoughts never drifted, her interest never waned, her body never cooled. The man in her arms and the blissful fusion of their bodies were too emotionally, mentally, and physically consuming for any of those things to happen. Every occasion was unique, marvelous, vitalizing, satisfying to the fullest.

  “I’m all yours, Rachel,” he gasped between ragged breaths, “we’ll never be parted again. We belong together.”

  “Yes, we do,” she concurred in happiness.

  As if by cue, their joined bodies sank to the blanket and he moved atop her, with Rachel’s legs imprisoning him there. Love’s beautiful music echoed through their veins as their hearts sang. They were locked so tightly together that even hot air from the gas fire or cold air from the air-conditioning system could not find space between them. They reveled in their snug contact and the rapturous sensations filling them. When their desires were at last spent, they nestled to savor the golden aftermath. In spite of the air-conditioning, the room was warm, but would have been sweltering if not for that foresight. Their bodies glistened with perspiration from the heat of the fire, their exertions, and the champagne they had consumed. Even so, neither wanted to end the special moment by sitting up to turn off the gas control, not yet anyway.

  “Don’t ever forget me or leave me, Rachel.”

  “I couldn’t, even if I wanted to and tried. I love you and desire you as I have no other man. You’re stuck with me now.”

  Her first sentence relieved him, her second thrilled him, and her last amused him. “I can’t imagine a more enjoyable condition.”

&n
bsp; “Neither can I.” She halted herself before adding, Who better to capture me than the Man with the Golden Arm? It could be tarnished now and she didn’t want to remind him of unpleasant matters today.

  They snuggled and fell asleep for an hour. After they awakened, they cooled off the bedroom and picked up scattered items, exchanging playful words and caresses as they did so. They revived themselves in the Jacuzzi, lathering each other until they were compelled to make love again…

  The storm had diminished in force during their nap, but they decided to eat dinner inside and stay off the slick streets. They talked about many things as they prepared the meal, ate it, and cleaned up afterward.

  “I wanted to take you out for a romantic meal for our last evening together. I didn’t want you to have to cook and do chores tonight.”

  “You’re helping, and I don’t mind. Besides, we probably have more privacy here than we would in any restaurant.”

  “You’re right, especially since word has leaked about Bill’s project. It was mentioned on the news and in the paper yesterday.”

  “That was expected after your various meetings, wasn’t it?”

  “Yep, that’s why I worked in secret for a while; I didn’t want anybody trying to influence me in one direction or another.”

  “What’s your opinion about locating one of the new teams here?”

  “Frankly, I don’t think it would be profitable, and they are businessmen looking to make money on the deal. I don’t believe the population is high enough to give it the financial support needed. There are too many pro, college, high school, and semipro teams already drawing from this area to make bringing in a new one feasible. Jacksonville is getting a team soon, and that isn’t far away. Besides, the Georgia Thrashers already playing, and the Augusta Eagles didn’t make a go of it. I advised against this location for a variety of reasons; I hope you and other locals don’t take offense.”